


Not Alone

by andromedaflynn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Curse Breaker, Divorced Hermione Granger & Ron Weasley, F/M, Friendship/Love, Past Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Post-Divorce, Pre-Relationship, Understanding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 23:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18062309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andromedaflynn/pseuds/andromedaflynn
Summary: It had been months since Hermione and Ron had divorced, and Hermione had found herself keeping to herself more than ever before. Perhaps all she needs is a man who's been there himself to help pull her back into the world.





	Not Alone

The harsh rap of knuckles against wood, causing Hermione to look up from her book with a frown. It was becoming something of a familiar occurrence of late, people knocking on her front door at all hours under any guise to see how she was really doing. At first the care had been sweet, but it had only taken two weeks before she had begun to begrudge the clear sympathy and pity that her friends were showing her. So what if she wasn't showing up at the Burrow for the weekly dinners? So what if she didn't want to go out with everyone for drinks after work? Surely it was obvious as to why she wouldn't want to spend time with her former in-laws and her ex-husband. She had done her best to be cordial and polite, answering questions with a soft accepting smile whilst keeping her feelings to herself, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, she just couldn't handle it any longer.

  
The knocking started up again and she sighed to herself; apparently pretending to not be home wasn't going to work on whichever of her former family had decided to check in this time. Putting her book down on the coffee table in front of the fire she turned her gaze to the door, as if looking at it hard enough would tell her who was on the other side. The truth was, while she appreciated the care they were showing, she was sick of it. Most of them were there to appease some feeling of guilt they seemed to be struggling with, not to really help her cope with the divorce, after all, they certainly hadn't been around when their marriage was going to hell.

  
“Come on, 'Mione,” a deep voice called through the door, causing her brow to furrow in confusion as she struggled to place it. The voice was familiar, but it certainly wasn't one of those that had spent the past few months turning up at her door. “Either you let me in or I'm going to have to go back to The Burrow, tell mum I wasn't allowed in and she'll turn up instead. You know how she gets.”

  
With yet another sigh, she stood from the couch, knowing all too well they were right, yet still struggling to figure out whether that meant it was Charlie or Bill. With a quick glance around her apartment to make sure it was tidy, well, tidy enough to let someone in, she moved towards the door, her usual false smile in place as she opened the door to see the eldest Weasley sibling.

  
“Bill,” she nodded in greeting, making sure to keep the door shut enough that he wouldn't take it as an offer to come in. “So, they dragged you into this too now, hmm?”

  
A slight chuckle rumbled its way through his chest at that, a soft smile playing on the corners of his lips as he looked over her, trying to access the situation as if she were a puzzle he had to solve in order to break a curse.

  
“You know how it is, you visit for one family dinner and you go home with assignments for the week,” he tilted his head slightly, as if even he wasn’t sure his words were really a joke. “Not that you’re work, of course,” he added, his bottom lip awkwardly pulling downwards as he realised his words could be taken as an insult.

  
With a slight roll of her eyes, Hermione huffed a laugh in return, opening the door wider for him to enter. “Want a cup of tea?” she offered, letting the question serve as her way of accepting him into her small flat.

  
“I brought butterbeer,” he replied, raising the bag that held the bottles of the sweet drink for her to see. “I figured if I was going to impose myself I better at least try and sweeten the deal.”

  
A true, albeit small, laugh fell from Hermione’s lips as she shut the door behind him, leading him into the living area and gesturing to the couch she had previously been curled up on as she took the only other chair, a far less comfortable recliner she had bought at a price that should have warned her of it’s poor quality. “You should have opened with that,” she scoffed, the corners of her lips still curled upwards in a hint of a smile to show she was kidding.

  
Taking his jacket off and throwing it on the couch, Bill took two bottles out of the bag, uncapping them before handing her one and taking a sip from his quickly, as if the smooth liquid would sooth the awkwardness of his being there. Pulling the bottle away he stopped to look at the woman across from him, who was about to take a sip of her own drink, realising he had forgotten the common courtesy his mother had practically drilled into him as a child. With a guilty cringe, he leant forwards, tapping his bottle against hers with a quiet “Cheers”.

  
With a shake of her head and the truest smile he had seen on her lips since he had arrived, Hermione sat back in her chair, curling her feet under her. “So, do you want to ask the questions you’ve been sent here with or should I just start answering. I think I’ve got them memorised in order, you know.”

  
A single brow raised in amusement, Bill tilted his bottle towards her as if to say ‘go on then’.

  
“I’m fine. Really. No, I’m not kidding. Work is good. No, I’m not working too hard. No, I haven’t met anyone yet. I appreciate the offer, but no, I don’t want to be set up with anyone. Yes, I know I haven’t been to The Burrow in a while, but I have been busy, maybe next time,” she rattled off the answers, barely pausing to take a breath as she let the words flow from her without any thought, clearly used to giving them to every well-wisher that had turned up at her door for the past few months.

  
A hearty chuckle came from deep within Bill’s chest at her words, a look akin to empathy mixing with amusement shined through his eyes as he leant back into his chair. “That repetitive, huh?” he asked with a crooked grin.

  
“You are the latest in a long line of people your mother has sent here to check on me,” Hermione admitted with a shrug that attempted, and failed, to appear as if she didn’t really care.

  
“You know she only does it because she cares, in her own, over the top, highly intrusive way,” he offered.

  
“I know that, I do, I just- It’s like she wants some answer that I can’t give her. Like she’s looking for something that’s just not there,” she sighed, not sure why she was telling him this.

  
With an understanding nod, Bill leant towards her, his brow furrowing as he struggled to decide what to say in return. “I know,” he practically murmured in response, his gaze falling to the glass of the coffee table in front of him. “She was the same with me after Fleur, to be honest. I think she was waiting for the breakdown, for the tears and the heartache, but, at least for me, it just wasn’t- I don’t know about you and Ron, but for me, the divorce wasn’t really sad, if that makes sense? I mean, yeah, ok, we failed our marriage, but we both knew it was over long before that. It’s not the same as a breakup, not really. But she treats it like it is.” With a heavy sigh he offered her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “At least, that was how it was for me, anyway.”

  
With an understanding nod, Hermione gave him an appraising look, realising for the first time that perhaps she wasn’t as alone in her feelings as she had thought. “I think-” she started softly, “I think I was relieved it was over, really. I mean, I loved Ron, I did. But I don’t think I was ever really in love with him. I could never be what he wanted me to be, and we were always looking to change each other, bringing out the worst in each other... Sometimes I wonder if we got together simply that’s what everyone expected.”

  
His gaze lifting from table to meet hers, Bill gave her an empathetic smile. “So, you’re not avoiding everyone because your heart simply can’t take the idea of Ron and his precious Lav-Lav?” he asked, putting on a high pitched voice that was clearly meant to imitate the blonde’s doting tones.

  
True laughter spilled from her lips at that and she found herself more relaxed than she could remember being since long before her divorce took place, and the sight seemed to calm the anxious thoughts of Bill as his shoulders relaxed too.

  
“Merlin no,” she shook her head, laughter still slipping through her lips at the thought. “Although, if they’re as disgustingly all over each other as they were in school, I might avoid them for the sake of not losing my lunch.”

  
Bill’s silent head tilt was enough to tell her that they very much were as lovey-dovey as she remembered them being, and it sent her into another fit of laughter that seemed to pull laughter from him in return. As their laughter finally settled down, the two seemed to relax into each other’s company, an easy understanding between them as they continued to sip their drinks. It wasn’t until Bill reached for another bottle for each of them that he broke the easy silence once more.

  
“So, if it’s not a desperate heartache that’s keeping you away from everyone, what is? Because you know, even James has been saying he misses his ‘Auntie My-My’.”

  
The words seemed to cut at her, she had wanted to avoid so many of the Weasleys, all those who kept turning up at her door, all those who treated her as if she ought to be pitied, and that had included Ginny and Harry, but she certainly hadn’t meant to cause any upset for the children. With a slight sigh, knowing she had already given away so many answers to this man that she had given to no others, she figured she may as well answer this too.

  
“It’s the pity, really,” she spoke softly, accepting the proffered bottle as she placed her now empty one down on the table. “I’m sick of being treated like I lost something great when, truth be told, I’m happier without him. Not that I don’t miss everyone, I do. But it’s just not the same. I’m no longer just me to them, I’m Ron’s ex.”

  
“But you do miss everyone?” he checked, his gaze firmly on her as he watched for her response.

  
“Of course,” she shrugged as if it were obvious. “Even before Ron and I got together your family was like a second family to me.”

  
“What if you came for dinner- Hear me out here,” he said with a pointed look when she looked ready to interrupt him, an amused smile on his lips as she looked clearly put out at being caught out. “What if you came to dinner, Sunday dinner, you know how busy those get, especially with all the kids now, no one will even get a chance to give you pity because they’ll all be too busy making sure George isn’t teaching the kids terrible pranks anyway.”

  
“You mean when there are even more people there to give me a million questions,” she frowned at the very thought, already imagining the entire Weasley family surrounding her with those looks of pity in their gazes as they asked for the umpteenth time how she was coping.

  
“When you can prove to everyone you really are fine, all at once,” he corrected her. “Besides, I’ll be there, I can play interference if they start getting annoying. Trust me, I’ve been there, I know the signs to look for,” he added with a slight laugh.

  
“Alright,” she agreed before she even had a chance to think over the answer. “But I’m holding you to that.”

  
A wide grin took over Bill’s feature’s at the success, not having thought it even possible that he would actually get her to agree to come to The Burrow.

  
“Trust me, I’m all over it,” he assured her, and, despite not knowing him as well as most of the family, she did trust him. Putting his now empty bottle next to their old ones, he glanced around for a bin for a second, wondering whether he should get rid of them for her before leaving.

  
“It’s fine, Bill,” she shook her head at him, adding her bottle to the collection. “Thank you, by the way, for the drinks, and well, the chat. And to think I almost didn’t let you in,” she gave him an amused smile, somewhat shocked that he had actually got her to agree to go see the Weasley’s the following Sunday.

  
“Yeah, but if you’d have done that mum would have come over, and she doesn’t bring drinks, she brings advice,” he chuckled, emphasising the last word to show his distrust of said advice, as he stood, grabbing his jacket off the arm of the couch. “I should probably head off, I’ve kept you long enough, and I’m sure you want some time alone to think over what you agreed to.”

  
With another laugh she shook her head at his teasing, even though they both knew he was right. Standing to walk him to the door, she found herself rather more optimistic than she had been before his arrival; it seemed Bill, much like the twins, had something of a talent for cheering people up, even if they didn’t realise they needed it.

  
“Thank you,” she spoke softly as they reached the door, his hand already on the doorknob before stopping to face her.

  
“Oh hush,” he rolled his eyes. “Do you know how much butterbeer I have at home? Honestly, it’s good you had some, it’s like I’m unloading some of it,” he laughed.

  
“That’s not what I me-”

  
“I know,” he interrupted her, a soft, genuine smile on his features as he looked down at her. “I’ll see you on Sunday night, yeah? And no bailing out, or I’ll be on your doorstep to collect you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! So, I have no idea whether to run with this and make it a series or not, so if you like it and want me to continue, let me know! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it wasn't too out of character, it has been many years since I've written Harry Potter fanfiction, so I'm fairly out of practice.
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you're having a lovely day!


End file.
